Schadenfreude. It tastes so sweet.

The National Education Association–you know, the folks who work hard to keep kids out of school and who like to strike all the time–is facing its own labor problems. A union of its own workers have voted to strike against the union.

Sweet. Very sweet.

Even unions are facing internal staff rebellions:

The field staff of the NEA, the teachers' union and largest union in the country, voted unanimously today to authorize a strike. https://t.co/KI4qzMhzUj

— Axios (@axios) November 13, 2023

Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!

It is a thing of beauty. I hope they strike from now to the end of time. The striking workers are the field staff who advise teachers during their own strikes.

Axios has the story, and it warms my heart:

Labor unrest is so intense this year that even labor unions are facing internal staff rebellions.

Driving the news: The 48 employees who make up the field staff of the National Education Association, the teachers’ union, voted unanimously on Monday to authorize a strike.

State of play: The NEA is the largest union in the country, representing about 3 million education professionals from pre-school to graduate school — and has been without a contract since May 2023.

• The vote by the Association of Field Service Employees is the latest sign of the strong labor resurgence. The AFL-CIO is facing similar issues with the union that represents its staff.
• Unless the parties reach a deal this week, a two-day strike would begin Friday at midnight with a picket line in Atlanta at an NEA conference.

Zoom out: It’s a busy time generally for the NEA — there’s an ongoing teachers’ strike in Portland, Ore. that staff members are working on. They’re also working in Florida to fend off efforts to curb union power in the state.

I have mixed feelings about unions, with a strong bias against them. In many of the trades, they seem to serve a useful purpose. In government they are an abomination. And the SEIU is in a class by itself as a malign influence on the world. The teachers’ unions though, are the worst.

I did a bit of research and looked up the salaries for the NEA, and discovered this: there are 430 employees of the union who make over $100,000, and the president pulls in a cool half a million in compensation. 175 make over $150,000, and 60 over $200,000. It’s good to be in the NEA management.

The field staff who are looking to strike don’t appear to be among the well-paid. They are the proles in the organization, apparently.

The NEA is the largest union in the country, although the American Federation of Teachers is the more politically prominent union at the moment given Randi Weingarten’s reputation for being a malign little elf whose main role in life seems to be harming children. She, too, pulls in about half a million and is also qualifying for a public pension in addition, despite not having been in a classroom in decades.

And, apparently, the NEA is a big exploiter of the working class.

One of the funniest things I have ever seen was a job posting for canvassers being hired by a nonprofit that was pushing for a $15 minimum wage a few years ago.

The pay? It was the current minimum wage at the time. They didn’t even pay the $15 dollars an hour. And how many organizations pushing for left-wing causes seek interns to work for free? Never pay attention to what they say. Look at what they do.

The cause is the excuse, not the purpose of the organization. The real purpose is always something much simpler: generating wealth for the “leaders” of the cause.

Always.